00:00Three elected trustees of the Amalgamated Workers' Union have been removed from their posts.
00:05Two of them spoke to TV6 News, saying they held the posts from 2016,
00:11and in 2019 they began seeking information on the union's financials.
00:16They took the AMU to court using their own money and withdrew the matter after they attained the information.
00:22According to a trustee at Bermuda's biscuit company, Helen Norrie,
00:26it pertained to a loan taken out by the union to pay retirees,
00:30which they were initially told came from one Morrison Company.
00:35When we started to investigate who was Morrison Company,
00:38we realized Morrison Company was a ghost company and had no company in Trinidad until they go by the name
00:44of Morrison Company.
00:46We questioned the President General and the General Secretary concerning it,
00:52and again we were getting all kind of sarcastic answers.
00:55And it's when we took the matter to court, we got evidence they took the loan from one of the
01:02RMUs.
01:03So we were told a lie.
01:06Norrie sees it as a conflict of interest, stating that she recently lost a court matter
01:11because the union made the wrong filing in relation to the company it took the loan from.
01:15They tell us they were removed as financial signatories on the AMU's bank account,
01:21which they claim is also in breach of the union's constitution.
01:25Trustee at Fort of Spain City Corporation Randy Medina says they informed the membership about what was occurring.
01:32He states that it has not gone down well with the executive, including the President, Michael Prentice.
01:38Medina also informs us of a recent decision made by the executive, which he refers to as illegal.
01:45The expulsion that I come, when I look at the letter and I read it,
01:50the General Secretary should write on the head of the letter that you will expulse from this executive
01:59and any time you all come on the compound, police will be escorting you all out.
02:04Last Tuesday, TV6 News aired the plight of several members at Bermuda's
02:09who were protesting at the time against the executive.
02:12And because that video went out, which was last Tuesday, the Wednesday we got an expulsion letter.
02:18Asked whether there is a provision for the expulsion of the trustees, they tell us yes.
02:23It applies to acts like inciting mischief, among others.
02:27But they are of the view that relaying the information to the membership does not constitute such.
02:34Some members within the union are calling for the removal of the executive,
02:38as elections have not been held for close to a decade.
02:41As a result, eight executives have become retirees, which the trustees say is also a constitutional breach.
02:49The trustees say many avenues, including bringing the attention to the Labour minister, have failed.
02:55They are once again making a plea for intervention.
02:59So we just want somebody to reach out, the minister, the prime minister,
03:04to ever to reach out and for us to get back our unions.
03:08TV6 News reached out to Prentice, but calls and messages to his mobile phone went unanswered.
03:14Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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